So we’re thinking about building a new house. A small house. A house small enough to say: We’re living in a small house because small is all we can afford.
But, then again, not too small. Because too small can say: We’re too small to be happy.
Ha! No problem. Because then you build small enough to be small AND cool. Bingo. I think I’m onto something.
And, remember, I’ll be living in the house with my wife and daughter who most likely wouldn’t be begrudged for saying this from time to time: I need some space from HIM.
I’m him. And, yes, I take up space.
Oh the dilemma of being poor and wanting just the right house.
So let’s start with this: A walk through the neighborhood. And then a horse ride. Followed, of course, by a couple of beers that should be marked: “Feel good about beginning the process of building a new house.”
But wait. I didn’t really start the house.
Fuck. This is going to be harder than I thought.
But wait: Acknowledging the fact that it is going to be harder than I thought deserves a trip around the property in a horse-drawn carriage, no? Of course it does. In fact, I may even make a sign for the carriage – well, cart – that says: Celebrating Accomplishment.
I’m not worried about the neighbors asking me why I’m going around with such a sign because I’ve long since realized that the norm in this neighborhood is going around and around with equipment in the apparent celebration of “accomplishment.”
Yep, they mow.
I, on the other hand, hook horses and smile and wave.
Either way: Accomplishment be damned. Stalemate.
But, personally, I think I’m winning. But, then again, maybe they’re not playing. Maybe they’re serious. About their lawns?
Now I’m sad.
But, really, I’m going to build a house in the woods as soon as I can figure just a few things out. You know, things like: How to build a house in the woods.
Minor obstacles for dreams as big as the dreams we’re dreaming, for sure.
Google should help. Well, once I stop writing to you about the need to Google the information to build the house that I’ve promised to build for my family.
In fact, I got some idea reinforcement for my plan to build a small house from a small-house guru who said what I would have liked to say about the common question of: Why a small house?
Duh. Because I hate to vacuum.
I’m starting to realize that the philosophy of building a small house is almost as important as building the small house. Cool. We can spend years here. Or maybe we have. Shit.
Whatever. It’s a process. And – trust me – I’m working on it.
Donations – and advice — accepted.
So you want to build a house.
Since it’s a dream why dream about a small house?
Unpaid advice:
To build a house you need to know what the house should look like, what features it could, should have.
Since we are still dreaming we could just forget about the cost.
We are just doing it on paper. So, relax and splurge.
Go wild, collect many opinions, it’s really a test about your creativity.
It’s about finding out what you and your family ideally would like.
After you are all clear about that, (ha, ha,)
you can downsize your dream to an affordable level.
you asked for it.~
Very entertaining read. A little fiction, no?
So you want to build a house.
Let’s start with some assumptions:
1) You want to stay warm cheaply and sustainably.
2) You want your plumbing to assist with 1) while keeping your home made fertilizer separate from your drinkable water supply.
3) You don’t want to ever have to use a roof rake (you won’t be young forever, you know).
4) Your horses are people too. Their needs must be taken into consideration.
Suggestion: Build a 4 frequency icosahedral dome framework with a diameter of about 50 feet. The house will be within this structure as well as a horse shelter.
Install a GSHP (ground source heat pump) with 4 or 5 vertical loops down to about 300 feet below the suface. You now have heat in the winter for you and the horses AND the rest of the enclosed dome area for year round gardening for the rest of your life. The heat pump will also provide air conditioning in the summer. Set up your heat pump and a composting toilet tank in the basement of your future house.
Your “fertilizer” can be used to keep your vegetables healthy.
Keep your well upflow of where you spread the fertilizer.
Cover the dome with transparent film. You now live “inside” a large green house heated by geothermal power. Now build your structure inside any way you want without roof shingling, tar paper, etc, since your roof will never feel the weather. Don’t burn hydrocarbons or run internal combustion engines inside the dome area (you will be amazed at how large a 50 ‘ diameter dome is).
If anyone says you are wierd, just tell them that you are following the old Vermont tradition of building round barns with an added twist.
P..S. Don’t tell the zoning folks that you are building a multi=purpose green house. Some zone jerks think it should be illegal to live inside a green house. Call the dome a Winter Windshield. Cite figures that show 30 to 40% of all heat losses in houses are due simply to the movement of air (otherwise know as wind). No wind means HUGE heat savings. The dome DOES NOT have to be insulated; it just has to stop the wind. The heat pump will do the rest.
So why haven’t more people started doing this?
I don’t know. Perhaps the loss of revenue for the folks that supply heating oil and overhaul furnaces might have something to do with it. Or maybe the power companies are not too happy about you being able to supply 95% of your heat from the ground hence they talk to their zoning board pals that make it a royal pain in the ass to get a permit for a geothermal set up .